Page 30 of Fun Together
She glides her hands to rest on top of my shoulders. “Because I don’t feel like it?” I lift my head to see that she’s grinning up at me, like she knows she’s not being completely honest, but maybe it doesn’t matter anyway.
It’s always been like this with her, like she doesn’t want to share anything of herself—even what I’d consider small things. I remember asking her where she was from when she and Andrew first started hanging out, and she responded, “Somewhere you’ve never heard of, probably.” And then it became a game for me to try to guess the town she grew up in. Come to think of it, she never ended up telling me.
Naturally, I push a little on this too. “Why don’t you feel like it?”
She sighs and tucks a piece of hair behind her ear before placing her hand back on my shoulder. “I don’t feel like having to do the whole song and dance. I’m bad at it.”
“I disagree.” The piece of hair she tried to tuck behind her ear falls back down and I fight the urge to tuck it back in for her. “Start with the secret tattoo, and you’re totally in.”
She laughs and it turns into a hiccup. It’s adorable and I want to make her do it again. “I should have never told you about that.”
She’s right. Ever since she mentioned it, I’ve been wondering where it could be. We used to go to Andrew’s family’s lake house all the time, so I’ve seen her in a swimsuit. I know it’s somewhere, hidden from just anyone’s view. Maybe low on her hip? Or just below her lower back? Maybe she got it recently and it could be anywhere my eyes can’t see right now.
No, I can’t go there. “Point is, you could be really kissing someone right now if you wanted to be.”
A full blush blooms up her cheeks, like a signal that I’m getting close to something. But where am I trying to get? Shyness has always drawn me in, something I can’t help but want to explore. What is she thinking? What does she want? I’ve been surprised by her tonight, and I don’t know what to do about it.
There’s nothing Ishoulddo about it.
“We can probably end this soon,” she says, almost as if she could read my thoughts.
“Am I not meeting your pretend kissing standards?”
“It’s not that. I haven’t given you a chance to meet anyone tonight. Sorry for hogging all your time.”
In all honesty, I forgot that the whole reason I came out tonight was so I could meet someone new. But I don’t want to talk to anyone else tonight. I want to stay in this corner of the bar talking to her until they kick us out. Which is why she’s right. This should end soon.
“Thank you. For helping me.” At this, she removes her hands from my shoulders.
I step back. “Glad I could be of service.”
“Want to meet the friend responsible for this farce?”
“Absolutely.”
I follow her up to the bar where the tall redhead Faye pointed out earlier turns to greet us as we squeeze through the crowd of people. She doesn’t smile at me in greeting and simply looks at me the way a scientist would look at a specimen under a microscope. Neutral, but curious.
Faye gestures to her. “Rett, this is Eli. Eli this is Rett.”
“That’s a cool name,” I say, feeling a need to warm her to me somehow. “Is it short for something?”
“I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” Rett says, and I think she might be serious.
Faye stands on her toes and says in an overdramatic whisper, “It’s short for Loretta.”
Rett glares at Faye, but I can tell she’s not actually mad at her. Faye looks up at me, conspiratorial.
“My lips are sealed,” I say to Rett.
“Wait a minute, did you say your name was Eli?”
“Yes, why?”
She looks at Faye in a suspicious way and Faye returns her look with an innocent widening of her eyes. They go back and forth with the kind of silent communication that only best friends have.
Rett turns back to me and smiles at me. “No reason.”
“Should we get the Uber now?” Faye asks.
